2012 Olympic Men's 1,500 First Round Recap: The Favorites That Show Up Advance, But Not Without Some Intrigue

In
the end, the first round of the men's 1,500 ended up with no real big
casualties, as after a protest saved the fate of #3 seed Nixon Chepseba of Kenya, the highest seed to not advance to
the semis was Ethiopia's Dawit Wolde, who came in seeded #12 with a 3:33.32 seasonal best.

That doesn't mean that the medal chances for people like Nick Willis
or Matt Centrowitz didn't improve in a significant way. They did, as two of top six seeds didn't even toe the start line.
#4 seed Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti - the
19-year-old - didn't show up because of a stress fracture and #6 seed Amine Laalou
was expelled due to a drug bust.

Kenya
and the US were the only two countries to advance three each to the
semis, but in a bit of a surprise, all three of the Americans made the
semis on their own, whereas Kenya had to rely on a protest to get all
three of their people through.

Heat 1: These Guys Show Why They Are In The OlympicsThe
first heat was by the fastest of the evening, as the first 11 all ran under 3:39 (the equivalent of a 3:56 or better for the mile).

Our
eyes were on defending Olympic champ Asbel Kiprop, who advanced with ease, but the British fans were going nuts for 21-year-old Ross Murray, who also advanced automatically.

At
the bell, Kiprop was in third and he'd drop down to fifth on the last
turn but he had no trouble making the next round. Afterwards, Kiprop said he did not expect a 3:35 race in round 1 and was trying to run relaxed. The guy who had to
work the hardest for the sixth and final auto qualifying spot was US
Olympic Trials champ Leo Manzano.

Manzano
was in 11th at the bell. This is the Olympics. Yes, they were running
3:53 mile pace and he was 11th. He moved up the final 100m to finish
sixth and clinch the final auto spot in the semifinal.

QT #1:
Manzano would have advanced on time had he finished seventh. Despite
the fact that he and Wheating reached the next round, our thoughts on
the US's medallists chances are the same as they were coming into this
event - Centro is our best legitimate hope.

QT #2: Aussie
record holder Ryan Gregson, who ran 3:33 in May but had been struggling of late, finished ninth and advanced on time. He said before finding out he made the next round, "I just got tired. I should have been better than that. Fingers crossed they go slow (in the next heats), but it doesn't look good (to qualify for the next round). I haven't been quite right the last few races of the season." He told LRC, "It was bad. I should have been better than that."

QT #3: Afterwards, Asbel Kiprop said his rivalry with Silas Kiplagat is over and they will work together for a Kenyan gold, saying, "(The rivalry is) over in Daegu. I hope to run as a team. This is a big event and we have to work as a team." Interestingly, Kiwi Nick Willis (see below), who won heat 3, said he'd love to see the two Kenyan star try to run 3:29 without a rabbit as that would set him up perfectly with them serving as his rabbits.

Kiprop, the reigning Olympic champ, had never broken the magical 3:30 barrier until this year. Now he's run 3:28.88. When asked if his training had changed this year, Kiprop said he has been doing more endurance work.

Heat
2: Andrew Wheating Sneaks InAndrew Wheating
got out near the front as he was in second at 400 (57.81 for the leader).
The pace slowed a lot on the second lap (2:00.03) and Wheating found
himself in the middle of the pack. At the bell, Wheating was 11th in the
tactical heat. Coming for home, the top six auto qualifiers were clear
of the rest of the field, with all the favorites - including World Championship silver medallist Silas Kiplagat - advancing. Wheating got ahead of everyone else to finish
seventh and hoped to advance on time. With five finishers in the first
heat already faster, he'd need some luck, and he'd get it, as he was the last qualifier for the final.

Afterwards Wheating said a "nasty" case of plantar fasciitis on his left foot has had him "swimming more miles than he's been running." He swims for his easy days and saves his running for speedwork. Before finding out from the media he had made the semi, Andrew said his Olympic heat was the first time since the Trials he had done speed work and not felt pain afterwards. He said, "If the race was tomorrow, I'd feel very confident." Now he's got that chance. He said, "Everyone out there has a 26-second finish ... (he added some have 24 and 25s). It's a matter of running with confidence. I need to find my full confidence and run with it."

As for pressure, Wheating said he discussed pressure with world record holder in the decathlon Ashton Eaton, and they agreed the pressure was at the Olympic Trials. Wheating said, "This is about having fun and competing. Regardless of the result, your still going to be an Olympian, he's still going to be the World Record holder."

Wheating's got a lot of family in town for the Olympics, as his father - who was from South Africa - lived in the UK. Speaking about his family, Andrew said a lot them are thinking "I can't wait until he's done so we can go to the pub and have a pint."

Former Michigan star Nate
Brannen was an auto qualifier, able to ease up the final 100m. The former Michigan Wolverine star said, "I felt incredible because my fitness is good." He said he thought the second heat was a little bit tougher than the other heats and doing well would set him up for the semifinal. As for his fitness, Brannen said it's simple - for the first time since before his freshman year of college he is healthy. He said, "I haven't missed a day of running this year. Just solid training. First time since, shit, before my freshman year I've had solid year of running." Brannen said he shut his season down earlier in August last year after not making Worlds and is now healthy. On his health and fitness he said, "It's showing of and hopefully it shows in the semi." He tried to get in some big European races this year but had no luck. So, "I've just been saving everything for this. If I can be a finalist, that is all that matters."

QT
#1: The runner-up was 17-year-old Hamza Driouch
of Qatar, who recently won world juniors.

QT #2: Wheating's struggles and Brannen's success show how important staying healthy is.

At
the bell, 2008 silver medallist Nick Willis had the lead and Matt
Centrowitz was in 6th. The biggest development happened on the backstretch when Kenya's Nixon Chepseba , who was running in third at the time, was clipped from behind. He did a
great job of not going down, but his momentum was hurt a great deal and
he didn't end up having the goods when the tightly-bunched field kicked
for home in the last 200.

Coming
off the last turn, Willis still led and he never relinquished it as he
looked great throughout. Centrowitz was in sixth and looked smooth and
comfortable as he moved up to 5th. Chepseba was directly behind
Centrowitz at 1,400 but ran out of steam after getting knocked around on
the backstretch.

A successful Kenyan protest did end up putting Chepseba in the next round. Despite what the
Kenyan papers say, Chepseba was not fouled by American
Matt Centrowitz. The one who clipped him from behind was Germany's Carsten
Schlangen, shown by our screenshots as Centrowitz was in fifth, whereas Chepseba was in third with Shlangen behind him in fourth.

As for Centro, the World Championships bronze medallist purposely only addressed the media for thirty seconds saying, "It's nerve racking like most heats, but you know I got into a little bit of trouble with 250 to go; some guy almost fell, so I was definitely trying to stay out of trouble in these heats, and the guy falling right next to you makes that difficult. I was pleased with the finish."

We'll have more on Willis on Friday as he discussed the tactics for the final (daring the Kenyans to try and run 3:29 without a rabbit). Already with a silver medal in Beijing, he said he did not believe he could leave the track euphoric unless he had the gold medal. Willis has already had a big week off the track, carrying the New Zealand flag and then meeting the Queen in the Olympic village. He said to the IOC, "It has been such an incredible week, carrying the flag, meeting Her Majesty in the (Olympic) village and it's an honour to wear the black singlet again."

QT
#1: Chepseba
deserved to be put in the next round in our minds. He definitely was
tripped from behind and it's not like they don't have room for a 13th
guy in the semis when they ran as many as 15 in a heat today.

QT #2:
Afterwards, Willis said he purposely went around Chepseba
before the bell and took the lead as he wanted to box Chepseba in and
make him try to work around traffic to make the final. It worked perfectly. One less Kenyan in the final would really help Willis.